ON THE THEORY OF PAINTING, &c. &c. :'-xm ON THE THEORY OF PAINTING; TO WHICH IS ADDED AN INDEX OF MIXED TINTS, AND AN INTRODUCTION TO PAINTING IN WATER-COLOURS, WITH PRECEPTS. By T. H. FIELDING, TEACHER OF PAINTING IN WATER-COLOURS TO THE SENIOR CLASSES AT THE HONOURABLE EAST-INDIA COMPANY'S MILITARY SEMINARY', ADDISCOMBE J Author of a " Synopsis of Perspective," fyc. fyc SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED. LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY W H. ALLEN & CO. LEADENHALL STREET ; AND SMITH, ELDER & CO. CORNHILL 1835. LONDON: Printed by J. L. Cox and Sons, 75, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's-Inn Fields. TO WILLIAM STANLEY CLARKE, Esq, Chairman, JAMES RIVETT CARNAC, Esq., Deputy Chairman, WILLIAM ASTELL, Esq. CAMPBELL MARJORIBANKS, Esq. WILLIAM WIGRAM, Esq. Hon. HUGH LINDSAY, JOHN MORRIS, Esq. JOHN THORNHILL, Esq. GEORGE RAIKES, Esq. Sir ROBERT CAMPBELL, Bart. JOHN G. RAVENSHAW, Esq. JOSIAS DU PRE ALEXANDER, Esq. NEIL B. EDMONSTONE, Esq. JOHN MASTERMAN, Esq. JOHN PETTY MUSPRATT, Esq. HENRY ALEXANDER, Esq. JAMES L. LUSHINGTON, Esq., c.b. Sir WILLIAM YOUNG, Bart. GEORGE LYALL, Esq. RUSSELL ELLICE, Esq. RICHARD JENKINS, Esq. WILLIAM B. BAYLEY, Esq. PATRICK VANS AGNEW, Esq. JOHN SHEPHERD, Esq. i DIRECTORS FOE. MANAGING THE AFFAIRS Cfje %)onomatoU <£a0k=gJntHa Compatti?, THIS WORK, ON THE THEORY OF PAINTING, IS, WITH DEFERENCE AND RESPECT, INSCRIBED, BV THEIR MOST OBEDIENT AND HUMBLE SERVANT, THEODORE H. FIELDING. Addiscombe, Oct. 1st 1835. .*•;-■- as ■ -.. IMilHHH^I CONTENTS. Page Preface 1X Explanation of terms used in Painting 9 Introductory and General Remarks 17 Design, Composition, and Invention 37 Chiaro-Scuro 50 Colouring 68 On the Picturesque « 92 On Beauty, Grace, and Expression Ill Introduction to the Practice of Painting in Water--. Colours, and use of Index J General Precepts 149 Description of the Plates, with Critiques, &c 162 PREFACE. The chief effect of improvement in arts and sciences is in their simplification, and consequent greater diffusion, giving in- creased advantages to subsequent writers, who may condense more than their prede- cessors, and at the same time be equally well or better understood. The business, there- fore, of an Author is to endeavour to keep pace with the philosophical attainments of the age, which continually requires increased precision, a shorter method of reasoning, and logical deductions as conclusive as those which < ■ PREFACE. ■ 9 which are purely geometrical. Such deduc- tions, however, cannot be hoped for, or even attempted, in a work on Painting, as there is no written language in which pictorial ideas can be definitively expressed. Perhaps the Author, aware of this great difficulty, may be thought too brief in those places which relate to the philosophy of the art; but if, where he may not have succeeded in conveying definite ideas, he may have supplied matter worthy of thought, he trusts that his work will be of some benefit to the Amateur, the Artist, and general reader. The Author has essayed to place some things in a new point of view, and although he has borrowed freely, he believes that much original matter will be found, useful towards directing the student to a right method PREFACE. XI method of estimating the difficulties of this art, and for assisting to remove most, if not all, by shewing that the mind must perform what too many think is to be accomplished by the hand. In the practical part, a copious set of tints is arranged as an Index, in order to save as much as possible the time usually devoted to the elementary department of colouring : to these the student can refer, as he would to a dictionary for the explanation of a word. The assistance afforded by a few careful in- spections of this Index will make the student acquainted with a greater number of mixed colours, than he would probably acquire in a practice of many months. The Author begs to add, that he does not attempt the difficult task, of superseding the necessity Xll PREFACE. I necessity of a teacher in the practical part, believing it impossible to lay down in writing a code of rules sufficient to supply the place of oral communications, or to explain the manner of doing- some things, that depend entirely on a facility of hand acquired by long practice, and which must be seen to be understood. ON THE THEORY OF PAINTING. EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED IN PAINTING. Accessaries are adjuncts introduced into a picture, to give relief and beauty, without being absolutely necessary to the subject represented. Accidents, Accidentals, are lights, objects, or small groups of objects, &c, suggested by convenience, and introduced as after-thoughts, not having been included in the original com- position of the picture. These assist materially the effect, but are too trifling to be enumerated B in 10 EXPLANATION OF H in the construction of the picture ; as smoke, drops of water on flowers, lights amongst clusters of leaves, weeds, &c. Antique is a term applied to paintings and statues, basso relievos, medals, intaglios, or en- graved gems, such as were wrought by the Greeks and Romans, from the time of Alexander the Great until the commencement of the dark ages. It was previous to this period that the arts had been carried to the greatest perfection among the Greeks and Romans. Attitude, in painting, comprehends all the motions of the body, and disposition of the limbs of a figure. From the attitude we learn the action in which a figure is engaged, and some of the sentiments supposed to be felt by it. The choice of attitudes ought always to be such as to display the most beautiful parts of the figure, and to give grace to the action, and is one of the principal excellencies and difficulties of grouping. Breadth. TERMS USED IN PAINTING. II Breadth. By this word we generally imply that the lights and shadows, also colours, are arranged in masses, by which grandeur of effect and expression is obtained. Correggio excelled in this impressive quality. Breadth is completely destroyed by small detached lights and shadows, scattered irregularly throughout the picture. Back-ground is a term given to the space behind a portrait or group of figures, and upon its happy arrangement depends much of the effect of a picture. Sir Joshua Reynolds was extremely fortunate in his choice of back-grounds, which are generally elegant and appropriate ; and the value that Rubens placed on this too frequently neglected part may be learned by the following anecdote. Being requested to take a young artist under his instruction, he was informed, by way of recommendation, that the youth had already made some progress in the art, and would be able to assist him considerably in painting his back- grounds. Rubens replied, that if he were really b 2 capable ■i I 12 EXPLANATION OF capable of painting back-grounds well, he required very little instruction. Charged is a term frequently applied to an exaggerated outline or attitude, exceeding the natural proportions or position of a figure, and is applicable to many of the designs of Fuseli as well as some others, though there are few speci- mens of it in the ancient statues. Middle Tint, as the words imply, are those tints which are equally removed, or nearly so, from light or darkness. Distemper is a mode of using colours mixed with any kind of size or other glutinous sub- stances, and was in use before the discovery of oil painting in A.D. 1410. Of this mode the cartoons of RafFaelle are the finest remaining specimens. Dryness implies that meagreness of style and contour which was the defect of the early painters in oil, the colouring hard and flat, the outline stiff and ungraceful. The paintings found in some of TERMS USED IN PAINTING. 13 of the Egyptian tombs are extreme specimens of this term. Elegance expresses that happy union of skill and taste, where an artist embellishes objects in form and colour without departing from the pro- priety of nature. That this quality does not always depend upon correctness of outline, the works of Correggio and Sir J. Reynolds have strongly evinced. Foreshortening. When any figure, or por- tion of a figure, or any other object, is so placed that its length appears diminished, it is called foreshortening. Thus a figure extending an arm towards the spectator, the arm becomes fore- shortened. Fresco is a mode of painting with water- colours on plaister or mortar before it becomes quite dry, when the colours, being incorporated with the plaister, retain their freshness for ages. Of this mode several specimens are yet in exis- tence, discovered in Herculaneum and Pompeii. Grotesque I 14 EXPLANATION OF I I Grotesque is a term applied to those paintings where the imagination has been consulted instead of natural forms, as in subjects like the temptation of St. Anthony, where non-descripts of the most uncouth shapes are depicted. Formerly the term was principally given to the antique paintings or ornaments which were discovered on the sides of grottos, and which were usually of this class. Grouping is a combination of figures, animals, or objects. Harmony, as applicable to painting, means the proper agreement with each other of colours, lines, lights, and shades, and indeed all the com- ponent parts of a picture. Local Colours are those which most pre- dominate, belong to, and particularly characterize any object or part of a picture. Manner is the characteristic style of an artist by which his works are generally known ; but by adhering TERMS USED IN PAINTING. 15 adhering too closely to one mode of painting, the works of an artist become too mannered. This is a great fault when carried far. Relief, in painting, is the proper detachment of one object from another, as a figure from its ground, &c, so as to give to every portion of the picture the character of truth and nature with distinctness. Style cannot be better defined than it has been by Sir J. Reynolds, who says, that " in painting, " style is the same as in writing; a power over " materials, whether words or colours, by which " conceptions or sentiments are conveyed." Tone is most commonly used to denote the depth or brilliancy of a painting, and is very generally used in place of harmony. Thus, if some part of a painting be said to be out of tone with the rest, it is meant that either the colours, lights, or shadows, do not agree with the sur- rounding tints, or do not truly represent the distance I I i 16 EXPLANATION, &c. distance at which the objects ought to appear. The word tone is also often used for the prevailing hue of a painting, representing the impression of particular effects. i - •

. £.•/'.'•>;..?&.-. - — — GENERAL REMARKS. 27 refined power in the discrimination of colours and tints, with their various gradations. How fre- quently he learns more from these than any thing the patient can tell him ! Perhaps, whilst young, he may be startled by the deceptive appearance which mere change of dress will give ; as when a florid patient has increased the colour in his face to more than a hectic flush, by simply putting on a dress of a powerfully contrasting colour, and by other changes of a similar nature. That the study of Nature is calculated to give the truest ideas on subjects of the greatest utility, needs no enforcing; yet we cannot resist the satis- faction of giving a remarkable fact in illustration. When Smeaton and his predecessors had tried in vain to make a permanent light-house on the Eddystone rocks (which lie out in the sea about fifteen miles from the coast), after considering with dismay the rapid destruction of prior edifices, a happy idea occurred to him, by the adoption of c 2 which ■■' 28 INTRODUCTORY AND ■•-.,< ■ which he has been rewarded in the duration of his building up to the present time. He had the good fortune to perceive it necessary, in a place where Nature works with terrific force, to oppose those convulsions with one of her own forms, and dis- carding the prejudices of science in the search, he took our strongest tree, a tree grown in the same climate, and amidst similar storms, for his instruc- tor and his guide. " He conceived the idea of his " edifice from the bole of a large spreading oak. " Considering the figure of the tree as connected " with its roots, which lie hid below the ground, " Mr. Smeaton observed that it rose from the " surface with a large swelling base, which at the " height of one diameter is generally reduced by " an elegant concave curve, to a diameter less by " at least one-third, and sometimes to half its " original base ; hence he deduced what the shape " of a column of the greatest stability ought to be, " to resist the action of external violence, when " the quantity of matter of which it is to be com- " posed GENERAL REMARKS. 29 " posed is given;" adding, were it wanted, addi- tional proof, that whatever is successfully attained in any of the arts or sciences has its first elements taken from Nature. An Architect without a very refined knowledge of drawing, must be classed among the handicraft occupations of stonemason and bricklayer; for architecture is nothing more than drawing or de- sign made manifest in some kind of building- materials, added to a practical knowledge of the materials employed. In the splendid ruins of ancient temples, and the more perfect remains of gothic structure yet exist- ing, there are abundant and intrinsic evidences of the draughtsman and builder being one person. The perfect unity of design and execution which pervades these remains, is alone sufficient to prove it ; and it must be regretted, for the sake of archi- tecture, that at the present day the draughtsman and builder are so frequently separate persons, as the odium, should there because for any, is too easily 1 30 INTRODUCTORY AND easily shifted from one to another, and the merit, when it exists, is either too much divided to possess any real value, or perhaps absorbed by the one least entitled to it. Painting is the least generally understood of all the arts and sciences, and the reasons are obvious. The first arises out of the absence of a well regu- lated instruction in those places where instruction in all liberal knowledge ought to abound ; where in every other department of knowledge it is most abundant ; and where, if the proper study of paint- ing or designing could be added, some students, by it, might be induced to think, when all other branches of learning, human and divine, had been tried in vain, and thus occupy some of those hours devoted by many to pursuits of a much less meri- torious description.* The exquisite charms of poetry and music ren- der them worthy of all the honours they receive in our universities ; and were painting as gene- rally * " Propter ignorantium artis, virtntes obscurantur."— Vitruvius, B. v. I! n GENERAL REMARKS. 31 rally understood, it would be equally favoured, for it has also its peculiar uses and charms. Its pleasures are conveyed to the mind through the sight — a sense that affords to us the purest and least alloyed of all our enjoyments; and most are aware, that knowledge acquired by vision is more perfect, and more lasting, than any which is ac- quired by the other senses. In a publication of the present year, painting is denounced for its abuse, by nations of freer habits than our own. On this plea, many of the Greek and Latin classics might, with far greater reason, be also forbidden, which are still openly read and studied in all our public and private schools as well as the Universities ; yet he would be called a weak logician, who argued that we ought to reject the benefits of literature, because it has been so fre- quently degraded by a licentiousness, too apparent in many of the best classic and other authors. Another cause of the want of information on painting exists in the great difficulty of finding- good ' \. 32 INTRODUCTORY AND good works for reference or study. Copies of the best writers in poetry or prose are to be had every where, and at prices that all can command. The best musical compositions are as easily obtained, and the value of an opera or concert ticket will also command specimens of the first performances in execution. It is not so with painting : the best are only to be found in the galleries of princes, the richest amateurs, or metropolitan exhibitions. To become acquainted with these, much valuable time must be employed, attended with expensive journies. Thus it is evident that the chief works of art, as well as the true power that painting possesses, can never, in the present state of things, be so generally known as to include them under the items of cheap or common know- ledge. When Alexander ordered that all the Macedo- nian nobility should study this art, # he might have (in addition to a real love for it, doubtless produced * Pliny, Book xxxv, chapter 10. ■ ! I'' GENERAL REMARKS. 33 produced by seeing the works of his favourite Apelies), some ulterior views or intentions, as to its uses in perfecting that invaluable qualification in an officer, the military coup d'ceil, on which not seldom depends the safety both of armies and of nations.* Although our zeal would not carry us so far as to make it compulsory, nor, like that of the Athe- nians in their admiration of painting, forbid the study of it to people of servile condition, yet we should be glad to see it so understood among the well educated, that the feelings of even very mo- derate judges might less frequently be offended by the sight of works too often beneath contempt, but * It is in the tempest and in war that the perfect naval officer displays the value of that highest degree of tact, which the cultivated mind only can receive from experience, when a single glance of the eye, followed hy one short monysyllable of command, is to give life or death to hundreds of human beings placed under his care and protection; and that drawing is the most valuable study for this refinement and instantaneous discrimination, which the eye must absolutely possess on extraordinary occasions, needs no proof. Cicero was aware of it when he said, " How many things do painters fpictoresj see, whether in shadows or in the highest lights, which are not seen by us !" — Lib. ix. Academ. qurest. j i 1 l;l i i'. 34 INTRODUCTORY AND I 1 m but still to be found in many of the houses of the opulent. We shall conclude these general remarks by a partial extract from a talented writer in the Edinburgh Review for June 1829, on " Military ' Education." He says, speaking of drawing, " independently of the practical applications of " this art, it is a most important engine for im- " proving the faculty of observation as to all " objects of sight, and increasing the power of " memory for such object. The truth is, that to " see clearly what exists, is an art to be acquired " only by practice and experience. It is, in fact, " thus only that all our senses are matured in " those who possess the perfect use of them; nor " do we say too much when we aver, that the art ' of seeing is never acquired in perfection for any " class of objects, except by him who has acquir- " ed the power of representing them through " drawing. They who have not reflected on the " subject may be startled at such an assertion; " but ■' '•■• GENERAL REMARKS. 35 (( (t t( a a a a a fC i (. <« <. i a a < i 1 1 l 4 < I I i a but, in reality, it is more the accurate know- ledge or discernment of forms that constitutes an artist, than any mechanical power in representing them. Whatever ordinary spectators may sup- pose their knowledge of the form of any definite object, of a piece of architecture for example, a tree, or an animal, is in truth very vague and imperfect, and he who will make the trial, so as at length to draw what he was used to look at, will soon convince himself that this is rigidly true. * * * The case is like that of the student of natural history, who habitually sees a multitude of plants or insects that escape the ignorant, though they may be equally present to the eyes of the latter, on which, in reality, they make no more impression than on the eyes of the quadruped. Nothing, indeed, is pro- perly or really seen, which does not convey a distinct and definite idea, that may be recalled or described in all its detail by the observer ; and it is a metaphysical truth, that what is commonly f 1 I 36 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. " commonly called a defective memory, is often ' nothing but defective observation, or the want " of impressions originally definite and com- " plete." We may venture to add, that if the study of this art had no other recommendation than these, of improving the faculties of observation and memory, and of inducing a habit of thinking more deeply on the visible works of the creation, and through them of their great Creator, it would still be worthy the fostering care granted to the sciences, at those seats of learning, whose flat stamps them with a more current value, and generally sanctions their pretensions in society. k 1 ( 37 ) DESIGN, COMPOSITION, AND INVENTION. ■ jfl Lnt some writers on painting, each of these words is made to comprehend the other two; by others, a separate department is given each of them : as the outline to design, the placing of figures, groups, &c. to composition, and the whole inten- tion of the picture in all that relates to the story or subject, to invention. Of the outline little more can be said, than that it ought to be perfect as to form, and agreeably varied, so that there may be a sufficient and pro- per contrast kept up throughout the piece. Per- fection of outline is a circumstance that rarely happens I j v I 38 DESIGN, COMPOSITION, happens in any picture : indeed, some artists have been so indifferent on this head, that it might be taken for a branch of the art beneath their atten- tion ; whilst others have been so solicitous, as to produce in their works the hard appearance which characterizes the earlier epochs of painting. That the outline should be as correct as possible need not be enforced ; but it most assuredly is a great fault, to display it so strongly as to destroy the effect of those higher departments to which it is only the first grade ; for outline alone, where correctness is all that is sought, may be called mechanical, whilst the rest, in most cases, has to proceed entirely from the mind. In arranging the outline or subject, we call to our aid what is understood by composition, which is so employed as to permit every interesting- object to be sufficiently developed, concealing, or sinking into some kind of obscurity, those things which are least necessary to the story. If the subject be historical, the principal per- sonages AND INVENTION. 39 ; 1 sonages should be so placed that they and their actions may be clearly understood. They are not to be crowded ; or if it be necessary that they should be surrounded by a multitude, they are to be separated from the mass by having the chief light placed on them, and by leaving an opening in the group in order to display this light, and with it the chief actors in the picture. The remainder of the figures are to receive light in proportion to the share they have in the general conduct of the piece. Landscape outline, or composition of outline, seems to be of little consequence, if we may judge from the practice of some of our best landscape painters ; and perhaps it may be from this circum- stance that so few of the landscape painters have excelled. Not fully aware of the ulterior charms in this department, they have been discouraged by the absence of initiatory beauties in the outset : for it not unfrequently happens that a view yields little more than a straight light, separating the distant I .! \ 40 DESIGN, COMPOSITION, distant land from the sky ; yet a subject as barren as this will afford to the adept in chiaro-scuro and colouring, an opportunity of shewing his strength, as we sometimes see produced out of such simple materials, extremely vivid, interesting and scien- tific pictures. An outline that is well diversified and in a natural manner, will always be more agreeable to the eye than a repetition of lines without variety ; for the sight is as soon displeased or fatigued with monotony and repetition of forms, as the ear is with the continual recurrence of the same sounds ; and where the outline is deficient, the artist has to compensate for it by a judicious arrangement of colours with light and shade. Much stress has been laid on the pyramidal or other modes in the arrangement of lines ; but that arrangement which best conducts the sight perspectively through the picture to the places of interest, and which happens to be the best adapted to the subject, is the only universal rule that can be given. A small number of rules for an AND INVENTION. 41 an infinite variety of subjects must very often be in error. " Composition, taken generally," says Sir Joshua Reynolds, " is the principal part of invention, and " is far the greatest difficulty the artist has to u encounter. Every man that can paint at all " can execute individual parts : but to keep those " parts in a due subordination, as relative to a " whole, requires a comprehensive view of the art, " that more strongly implies genius than, perhaps, " any other quality whatever." We cannot but be of opinion, that the landscape painter has often to draw more largely from his own resources than the painter in any other branch. If this idea be correct, he has more frequent oppor- tunities of shewing greater powers in the imagina- tive part of the art. He has the privilege of intro- ducing every created thing in nature that may serve his purpose, and of adding historical anec- dote of the highest interest, or a pastoral story of the humblest kind. He may pourtfay his figures d with , 91 42 DESIGN, COMPOSITION. i I with all the energy that is suitable to the scene, or he may sink them into any degree of insignificance that their occupations seem to require: in short, he may make more episodes than is allowable in the composition ef a picture which is purely historical. Simplicity of construction in every branch of painting will be found the best mode of making a powerful impression. This simplicity is discover- able in all our best historical pictures, where the greatest number of figures exist, as in the Cartoons of RafFaelle, where the chief interest is confined to a very small number of actors. In the pictures of ' St. Paul preaching at Athens,' and the' Death of Annanias,' the most unlearned in painting will be able to point out those parts which only have the greatest interest : the rest are merely acces- sories, giving support to the principal action of the piece by their expression and attitudes. Richardson, in his treatise on painting, describes several pictures under the head composition, but which might have been described with more pro- priety lit m MMMHM AND INVENTION. 43 priety under that of chiaro-scuro, did he not include in the word composition almost every thing belonging to the completion of a picture. • ' In the ' Descent from the Cross,' by Rubens," he says, " the Saviour is the principal figure. This " being naked and about the centre of the picture, i* would have been distinguished as the heighten- " ing of this mass of light : but not content with " that, and to raise it still more, this judicious " master has added a sheet in which the body lies, " and which is supposed to be useful to deliver it " down safely, as well as to carry it off afterwards. " But the main design is what I am observing, '.' and for that it is admirably introduced." In the following extract from the same writer, it will be seen that he allows colour, also, a prin- cipal place in composition. " Sometimes a figure " has to hold a place which does not sufficiently " distinguish it ; in that case, the attention must " be awakened by the colour of its drapery or part " of it, or by the ground on which it is painted, d 2 or ■ Its' ■ 81 Ml " 44 DESIGN, COMPOSITION, I ;i " or some other artifice. Scarlet, or some vivid " colour, is proper on such occasions. I think I " have met with an instance of this kind from " Titian in a ' Bacchus and Ariadne :'* her figure " is thus distinguished, for the reason I have given. " And in a picture by Albano, our Lord is seen at " a distance as coming towards some of his disci- " pies, and though a small figure, is nevertheless " the most apparent in the picture, by being placed "on a rising ground, and painted upon the bright " part of the sky, just above the horizon." The readiest way of making the composition of a picture complete, certainly is that adopted by Rubens, and recommended by Sir J. Reynolds ; which is, instead of being content with a mere outline, or an outline finished in light and shade, to paint the whole subject slightly from the first. He says : " This method of painting the sketch, " instead of merely drawing it on paper, will give " a facility in the management of colours and in " the * Now in the National Gallery. ng AND INVENTION. 45 " the handling, which the Italian painters, not " having this custom, wanted. By habit, he will " acquire equal skill in doing two things at a " time, as in doing only one. " An artist, as I have said on another occasion, " if possible, should paint all his studies, and " consider drawing only as a succedaneum when " colours are not at hand. This was the practice " of the Venetian painters, and of all those who " have excelled in colouring. Correggio used this " manner. The method of Rubens was to sketch " his composition in colours, with all the parts " more determined than sketches generally are. " From this sketch scholars advanced the picture "as far as they were capable, from which he " retouched the whole himself. " The painter's operation may be divided into " three parts : the planning, which implies the " sketch of the general composition ; the trans- " ferring that design to the canvas; and the " finishing or retouching the whole. If, for dis- " patch, i ■ ! Ml I 46 DESIGN, COMPOSITION, I / I I *' patch, the artist looks out for assistance, it is in " the middle stage only that he can receive it : " the first and last operations must be the work " of his own hand." The rules of composition for historical, as well as landscape paintings, are most quickly learned by inspecting the large works of the best mas- ters ; and when these cannot be seen, good prints will give valuable information. Annibal Carracci was of opinion, that a perfect composition should not have more than twelve figures ; that out of these might be made three groups, and that more would destroy the grandeur of the piece. In composition of all kinds, if any thing imper- tinent be introduced it will distract, and if of any amount, destroy the subject ; the artist, there- fore, must be cautious that his figures pay atten- tion to the chief interest of the piece. If a figure be made to look out of the picture it becomes ludicrous : as in a picture by Rubens, where satyrs are represented dancing, a female looks at the I AND INVENTION. 47 the spectacle in a manner that adds considerably to the grotesque air of the whole ; and in a picture by Titian, one of the panthers which draws the car of Bacchus fixes a single eye on the spectator, and considerably enlivens the animal and the sub- dued part of the picture where it stands. This picture of ' Bacchus and Ariadne ' is in the Na- tional Gallery, as has been before noticed. Variety of attitudes is to be studied for the sake of contrast : but rather than carry this too far, as Rubens has certainly done in his picture repre- senting the Fall of the Damned at the Last Day, it would be much better to preserve the simplicity of the early painters, who seldom attempted more than a natural and unconstrained attitude. Perhaps the shortest definition we can give of invention is, that it consists in arranging those ideas which the mind has amassed in its various studies, and in making fresh combinations out of old materials. Thus it will be evident, that an artist must not only study diligently the works of others, f ' I *! 48 DESIGN, COMPOSITION, others, but should also be in the habit of much and appropriate reading ; for it is plain, that he who gathers most ideas must have the greatest powers of invention, and the most refined inven- tion can only proceed from a mind very highly cultivated. Dryden, in his parallel between poetry and painting, gives, in his lively manner, the first place to invention ; and, as absolutely necessary to both, he states, " yet no rule was, or ever can be '■' given, how to compass it. A happy genius is " the gift of Nature : it depends on the influence " of the stars, say the astrologers; on the organs " of the body, say the naturalists; it is the par- " ticular gift of heaven, say the divines, both "Christians and Heathens. How to improve it, " many books can teach us; how to obtain it, "none; that nothing can be done without it, all " agree. Tu nihil invitd, dices faciesve, Minerva." Without invention, a painter is but a copier and a poet but a plagiary of others. Both are allowed — - BnMMBdill AND INVENTION. 49 wm allowed sometimes to copy and translate ; but, as our author Fresnoy, on painting, tells you, " that " is not the best part of their reputation."..." Imi- " tators are but a servile kind of cattle, or at least " the keepers of cattle for other men : they have " nothing which is properly their own." Under this head (Invention) is placed the dis- position of the work, and such harmonious ar- rangement of all things, that the story of the picture may be perfect, and entirely devoid of whatever can distract the attention from the prin- cipal purpose of the artist. w I ( 50 ) I CHIARO-SCURO. The extraordinary power which the eye pos- sesses, of excluding all other things when bend- ing its greatest strength of vision on any particular object, or part of an object, is highly interesting, and has here to be considered, being the leading principle upon which chiaro-scuro is based. If the object be darker than the surrounding matter against which it is seen (in painting called the ground), it will, on a close scrutiny, appear encompassed by a faint halo of comparative light, affording, in the greatest darkness which is not total, a distinct view of the outline of the object, by a double operation. First, by the halo above mentioned ; and secondly, by an appearance of increased or greater darkness at the edges of the object, iB^^H i CHIARO-SCURO. 51 si object, than farther within the outline or near its centre. Should the object or figure be lighter than its ground, the converse of the whole takes place : for the ground which is in contrast with the object will then be darkest round its outline, and the edges of the object will be lighter than its centre. Although all feel the benefit, few are aware of this admirable property in the eye, de- pendant alone on its internal structure. That reflection from the back of the figure has nothing to do with it, may be shewn by attaching a small piece of dark paper to a larger piece not so dark, or the contrary, and then looking on either with attention for a few moments when placed at a convenient distance, having in remembrance that the greater the distance the less distinctly will this effect be seen, on account of the intervening column of air, which always operates in the usual manner of aerial perspective. This quality in the laws of vision is invaluable, when we consider the great safety and protection afforded ; < 52 CHIAROSCURO. l": 1 I afforded by it in dubious light or darkness ; doubtless given alike to all creatures that see (per- haps most powerfully to animals which prowl by night), and in which we perceive another proof of the infinite wisdom that the Almighty has em- ployed in the construction of the universe, and of the incomprehensible means he has used for the safety and well-being of all his creatures. That these operations of the eye are mechanical, we believe cannot be doubted ; but we have not yet met with any work in which some of these nicer phenomena of vision are reduced into any thing- like a satisfactory theory ; and perhaps they must ever remain amongst the innumerable circum- stances which are as much beyond our finite capacities as the production of a blade of grass. Still we may gain much by studying the activity of the eye, its conclusive mode of reasoning, or rather the vast power it has, when cultivated, of forming true conclusions, apparently without the necessity of reasoning, proceeding from that power CHIAROSCURO. 53 power which we may call unconscious know- ledge. These things, well considered, will ad- vance the artist in the study of his arduous pro- fession, much more than the common-place atten- tions which are too frequently paid to the mere manipulations of the art, as it is on these niceties of light and shade that the picture has to depend for all that is to give life, and the piquancy to that portion of the effect which comes under the head chiaroscuro. Without this knowledge, the artist must conti- nually fall into error ; for on many occasions, he might be led to believe that shadows appear per- fectly equal, or lights of the same brilliancy on a level surface. Knowing this to be the fact, and representing them so, he would represent an un- natural appearance : for although abstractedly it is the case, yet we do not see them in this manner, and to the eye things only exist as they are seen ; therefore, before we attempt to represent any thing we must be aware of the manner in which we see it. As ! L '& m 54 CHIARO SCURO. As we can only see distinctly that which appears in the centre of vision, all other objects are seen by indirect rays, consequently less distinctly. This may be one cause of the seeming inequality of shadows, lights, and colours ; but the cause why two colours in opposition, or a light and shadow, should appear more intense by juxtaposition, does not so readily manifest itself. Indeed, so stronglv does contrast bring out colours, that any pale colour may be rendered visible by having its pro- per contrast near it, or invisible, by the absence of the contrasting colour; and a set of graduating shades may be so arranged, that the sight will easily embrace in a direct view several of them at once and the effect of increased and decreased in- tensity where they join will be apparent in all at the same time, taking the appearance of the deli-, cate shadows in the flutings of a Doric column. Cover with two pieces of paper all the shades ex- cept any one, and the shade tint under examina- tion will be immediately restored to its equal or level ■ ■ IsMi CHIARO SCURO. 55 level appearance : a condition which it always actually preserves, but which cannot be detected whilst the rest are visible.* The words chiaro-scuro are commonly trans- lated " light and shade ;" but a better interpreta- tion, perhaps, might be " light-obscure," as the term is used not only to express the lights and shadows of a picture, but also all those colours which have a sombre effect, and which cannot be called absolutely dark. It is the intention of a good picture to tell its story distinctly and intelligibly, avoiding all things that will disturb the attention. This, without a good knowledge of chiaro-scuro, cannot be done ; for, unless the artist strictly adheres to the leading principles of this department of the art, his labour will be thrown away. His first endea- vour must be to obtain unity of light and shade, by so massing his lights and most agreeable colours on the chief part of the picture, that the i 1 I { ■ * " Contraria juxta se posita, magis elucescunt. *. I 56 CHIAROSCURO. the eye may dwell on it with undisturbed satis- faction. If in a picture a variety of objects are given of equal light, and scattered at regular intervals over the piece, it approaches in some degree the nature of a chess-board, where the alternations of black and white are so exact in size and power, that the eye wanders over the surface, finding not a single point of interest on which it can rest. The quantity of dark shade usually allowed in painting is about one-quarter ; another quarter is allowed for light, and the remainder for middle tint. But this rule is not absolute, depending on the nature of the subject and the impression to be conveyed. Rembrandt allowed a much greater proportion to his dark tints, in order to gain the greatest pos- sible brilliancy for his lights ; and he carried his method so far, that the spectator is frequently im- pressed, on beholding many of his works, with the idea of a dungeon into which the light pene- trates CHIARO SCURO. 57 trates with difficulty, throwing an expression of sadness over the whole, sometimes unsuited to the subject, and always depressing to the feelings. In many excellent pictures we see the greatest part occupied by middle tint, with very little of positive light or dark ; and in others we find a preponderating quantity of light. Each of these methods is, of course, intended to convey parti- cular feelings or impressions. It is considered necessary to have two or three groups of light ; but they must be varied in their size, form, and degrees of power, and the breadth of the shadows is to be so well preserved, that they may serve as places of repose to the eye, separating the groups of chiaro-scuro from each other. Frederico Baroccio, Carlo Bonone, Guercino, the Carracci, and others, desirous of rivalling the great variety of tints which Correggio has employed and so exquisitely blended by his pencil, depended to such an extent on the proper distribution of e light 58 CHIAROSCURO. light and shade, that in order to obtain an accurate composition in their chiaro-scuro, they followed the method used by him, in forming small statues of clay or wax, arranging the positions, attitudes, and foldings of the draperies, grouping them according to the disposition they were to hold in the picture, and lastly, subjecting them to an artificial light, in order to choose the best effects. When unity of light is carried to so great an extreme, as we often find in some of the pictures of Rembrandt (magical as they all are), repose is almost lost by the eye being continually recalled to this isolated light, and it is to prevent this sin- gleness that other groups of light are admitted. If the secondary light be made of nearly the same strength as the primary, it should not approach it in size. The rest are to be more diminished, both in form and size; and again, from these should be spread out those accidental lights which prevent monotony in the shadows, add interest to the portions of the picture which without * \ CHIAEO SCURO. 59 without them might become insipid, and make the reposes useful in carrying forward the story, or in giving episodes in character with the whole. By the term " repose" is simply implied those parts of the picture, either in deep shadow or middle tint, where lights, shadows, and colours, are so subdued, that the eye can rest upon them without fatigue, after the excitation produced by the brilliancy and effect of the principal parts. However objects may be scattered throughout the picture, they are to be so grouped and col- lected together, that although each is to have its particular light and shadow, yet the lights should generally mass together as well as the shadows. To illustrate this, Titian refers to the effect on a bunch of grapes, where each grape has its own light and shade, yet it forms only one member of a mass, and the whole mass, considered as such, has only one light side and one dark, causing an unity of effect that is always agreeable. It is by masses of light that the eye is prevented e 2 from 'i I ( 60 CHIARO-SCURO. : I ! !■? ' from dissipating its powers in a vague and un- settled wandering over the surface of the picture ; and we must endeavour to fix it by a satisfactory combination of chiaro-scuro, by a harmony and contrast of colours, and by opposition of shade tint, or of obscure colours which may have the same effect, sufficiently wide to prevent the masses of light from crowding into the eye, at the same time making what is called a repose between the lights. These groups of shadows are to be so managed that the unity of light may be preserved. A picture may be considered as a collection of foci, or points of vision, holding their places in a series of gradations, and subject to one great con- trolling focus, the centre of effect; itself composed of innumerable foci of various colours and degrees of light. These united make the chief light ; the second and tertiary are to be subject, and inferior in power as they descend in the scale of the great total ; and their minor, or accidental lights, should be so arranged, that they do not hurt the breadth or CHIAROSCURO. 61 or repose of each mass. So that we might almost pronounce each collection of light in itself a whole picture, but by its connexion and subordination making an essential part of a greater picture. Wouvermans, Wynants, Claude, Cuyp, and many others, finished their works so well in this respect, that any small portion taken out of one of their pictures would explain that it was a portion from the work of an eminent master. The following extract from Sir Joshua Reynolds is too valuable to be omitted. "The Dutch painters " particularly excelled in the management of light ■" and shade, and have shewn in this department. " that consummate skill which entirely conceals "the appearance of art. Jan Steen, Teniers, " Ostade, Dusart, and many others of that school, " may be produced as instances, and recom- " mended to the young artist's careful study and -" attention. The means by which the painter " works, and on which the effect of his picture " depends, are light and shade, warm and cold " colours. 62 CHIARO-SCURO. colours. That there is an art in the manage- ment and disposition of those means will be easily granted, and equally certain, that this art is to be acquired by a careful examination of the works of those who have excelled in it. " I shall here set down the result of observa- tions which I have made on the works of those artists who appear to have best understood the management of light and shade, and who may be considered as examples for imitation in this branch of the art. " Titian, Paolo Veronese, and Tintoret, were among the first painters who reduced to a sys- tem, what was before practised without any fixed principle, and consequently neglected occasionally. From the Venetian painters Ru- bens extracted his scheme of composition, which was soon understood and adopted by his coun- trymen, and extended even to the minor painters of familiar life in the Dutch school. " When I was at Venice, the method I took to " avail ■■ ■ El -fytt5ff& CHIAROSCURO. 67 " you may be very imperfect, but still you are an " imperfect artist of the highest order." Perhaps the force of a well-constructed chiaro- scuro is most seen in the works of Correggio. Fuseli describes the harmony of Correggio as en- tirely dependant on his splendid management of light and shade, and that his effect owes nothing to the colouring, notwithstanding the exquisite hues he employed ; and also compares those won- derful effects to the " bland central light of a " globe imperceptibly gliding through lucid demi- " tints into rich reflected shadows." Correggio's compositions are always so com- plete, that his pictures, whether of the largest or smallest size, are perfect in unity of effect. I 1 ,: : ( 68 ) COLOURING. Of the nature of colours, nearly all we know is, that they exist in various tinted rays, which com- bined make pure or colourless light. Could the artist be made acquainted with their physical or first cause, and how objects receive their colours, he might obtain some advantages, for they are not so splendidly and lavishly displayed throughout the works of Nature without some great meaning, otherwise their existence would seem only for our amusement instead of instruction. The language of colours is infinitely expressive, and their expression and intention have to be well studied for much important knowledge is often conveyed to the mind by the finer gradations of which they are capable. It is by colours that the ■ . ■ , i an™ I COLOURING. 69 the nicest judgment is quickened, and by these nature acts upon our most refined perceptions and sympathies. We see health developed in colours that cannot be mistaken ; we find the emotions of the soul expressed in appropriate tints ; the warm flush of all the ardent passions, or the pallid tints of sickness, of terror, with all the concurrent hues of sadness, impressively increased in the cold blue whiteness of the dead. This analogy pervades the whole system of Na- ture. The gloom of the approaching storm is ex- pressed by the same melancholy appearance, and in its commencement is gently indicated to the spectator by a gradual diminution of that healthy tint which Nature possesses in her quietness. Again, the cheerful tranquillity of an autumnal or summer's eve is shewn by an harmonious arran ele- ment of the richest and sweetest colours that can be found; all those which are generally pro- nounced to be unpleasing and expressive of the harsher feelings are banished, and the scene, whether 1 1 w n I ; ! i 70 COLOURING. whether at sea or on shore, amongst mountains, rocks, or forest glades, appears to rejoice in one universal expression of gladness, such as colours only can indicate, and those in the hands of one who has long and successfully studied their use. They are, as Opie says in one of his lectures, " the *' sunshine of art that clothes poverty in smiles, " and renders the prospect of barrenness itself " agreeable, while it heightens the interest and (l doubles the charms of beauty." A picture should be an assemblage of warm and cold colours, with all the gradations between the two, so disposed by the assistance of lights and shadows as to form large masses of tints, some opposing, others agreeing with each other. These are again divided into smaller masses, also opposing and agreeing; and this is continued, one within another, until every appearance of con- trivance is lost, and the whole together takes that harmonious and artless appearance, which so ex- clusively belongs to natural effects. At the same time, COLOURING. 71 time, the whole piece is so subjected to the first intention, that whatever impression or sentiment was to have been conveyed, is fulfilled by all things in the picture working together for one end. If the subject be cheerful the colours must be so, and the sombre greys, purple, black, dark reds, or browns, must be very sparingly used : these tints are better suited to subjects of a sullen or dismal aspect. If the picture is to represent a cold at- mosphere, no more warm colours are to be used than are sufficient to give force to the colder tints ; and where a warm effect is to be produced, the contrary method must be pursued. The warm and glowing style of colouring is so generally esteemed, that Sir Joshua Reynolds gives directions in his admirable lectures for no other method. In his notes on Du Fresnoy he observes : " The " predominant colours of the picture ought to be ," of a warm mellow kind, red or yellow, and no " more cold colour should be introduced than will " be just enough to serve as a ground, or a foil to " set 1 72 COLOURING. " set off and give value to the mellow colours, and *' never should itself be a principal. For this a " quarter of the picture will be sufficient. The " cold colours, whether blue, grey, or green, are " to be dispersed about the ground or surround- " ing parts of the picture, wherever it has the ap- " pearance of wanting such a foil, but sparingly " employed in the mass of light." In another place he gives the same instruc- tions. " It ought, in my opinion," he says, " to " be indispensably observed, that the masses of " light in a picture be always of a warm mellow " colour, yellow, red, or yellowish white, and " that the blue, the grey, or green colours be " kept almost entirely out of these masses, and " be used only to support and to set off the warm " colours ; and for this purpose a small proportion '• of cold colours will be sufficient." It cannot but be well understood by every one, that Sir Joshua, in these general rules, recom- mends that method which is most consonant to nature, ■ 'Li COLOURING. 73 nature, and consequently best calculated to meet the public eye. With his knowledge, and the opportunities he had of seeing the best works, it is impossible but that he should be well aware of all the powers and properties of colours, and that by a judicious arrangement every variety of atmos- phere, from absolute cold to its opposite, heat, might be with equal propriety represented, and with equal force. It is well known to artists, that certain colours must be opposed or united to others, to produce any given or required effects : in other words, that particular combinations and oppositions of colours will produce certain results and impres- sions on the mind, founded in the propriety of all natural appearances. Their effect on the eye, considered only as an organ, is mechanical ; for when the sight has been fatigued by resting long on one colour, the opposite colour (its contrast) serves as a repose, as darkness relieves the eye when weakened with too much light, and the *" converse. i I < 74 COLOURING. ■ \ >' converse. If the operations on the organs of vision be carried on by action upon substance, as fibre, &c, which appears to be most probable, then we may attempt to explain the effect of co- lours and their contrasts, by comparing the effect of a colour long seen, or seen in a large quantity, and the consequent weariness of the sight, to the fatigue which the muscles of the body feel when some particular set have been long engaged in one continued exercise ; and the sense of rest or relief that the eye gains, by contemplating the opposite to the colour which caused its weariness, may be compared to the rest and satisfaction of the body, on commencing an exercise which calls into action another set of muscles or limbs, the opposite to those already fatigued. Such is the relief the eye feels in contemplating purple after yellow, green after red, black after white, &c. or the reverse. Again, when many of these con- trasts are brought together in a violent or harsh manner, the sight is distracted, and may, by a bad - 1 COLOURING. 75 bad painting, be made to feel as much fatigue as that which is produced in the body by calling into violent action all the muscles of the frame at the same moment. We here speak only of that sight which has been cultivated, which is wide awake to all the charms of the visible creation, and not of that which sees things and scarcely knows that it sees them. Aware of the above facts, the artist gets rid of many difficulties in the construction of his picture. He must avoid monotony, or a too frequent repeti- tion of the same colour ; he will also be careful not to fill his picture too full of contrasts, the opposite error to monotony, but should reserve the power- ful stimulus of contrast for those parts of his pic- ture which he wishes to make of interest and to bring into life. The skilful mixture of chiaro-scuro with colouring is irresistible ; for the artist can with certainty fix the eye of the spectator on any part of his picture by these alone, even when divested of subject or story. f 2 It . 76 COLOURING. It is not an easy task to lay down an absolute theory of colouring, when we consider the diffe- rent styles used by different masters, all of whom are considered good, yet differing so greatly that we can hardly institute any comparison between them. Amongst the greatest colourists, we must enu- merate Titian, Pordenone, Rembrandt, Rubens, Giorgione, Jacomo Bassano, Correggio, Jordaens, Tintoret, Paolo Veronese, Vandyke ; and so few among the landscape painters, that one might be justified in believing that good colouring in land- scape is of more difficult attainment than in his- torical painting. In this department Claude Lor- raine, Gaspar Poussin, Salvator Rosa, Hobbima, Rysdall, and a few others are to be included. It was Titian's practice to have all his lights of a warm yellowish hue, as if enlightened by the setting sun ; others have made their highest lights of a pure white : so that a picture by Titian, as Sir J. Reynolds observes, makes all others that may happen COLOURING. 77 happen to be near it, of a grey, or cold appear- ance. In landscape, Titian's method has been followed by some with much success. His distances pos- sess that sparkling and clear effect which is found under the best state of atmosphere, and his fore- grounds have an individuality about them, which proceeds from the brown and earthy colours he employed in the front of his picture. Claude Lorraine, who is generally esteemed as the head of the landscape painters, gained his brilliancy in skies sometimes by an artifice that is not always sufficiently concealed. Where he has avoided it, his skies are equally splendid and more easily contemplated. We allude to his prac- tice of occasionally placing a very dark object near the sun. This certainly produces the utmost light that colour is capable of giving ; but the very intense opposition thus created is always painful if it make any approach to nature, and moreover destroys all the rest of the picture, notwithstand- ..:-•' ing : ■ 1 \: I i s 78 COLOURING. ing the greatest skill which may be employed to counteract the evil. Many artists have followed him in this mode of creating a strong light in the sun or sky, but very rarely with his success ; and where the success is not eminent the failure is invariably great. The Venetians have always been considered the first colourists, although some of them, as Tintoret, Paolo Veronese, and a few others, were suspected by Sir Joshua Reynolds to have painted for no other purpose than to be admired for their expert- ness in the use of colours, and the display of that art which ought always to be concealed. There is in the paintings of this school a brilliancy of light, supposed to spring from the use of pure and unmixed colours, in the first operations, which being repeated with a certain degree of transparency, produced that internal light so essential to brightness. In his lights, Titian used rich and glowing colours, avoiding dark masses of shade in those portions •• ' COLOURING. 79 I'HB portions of the figure which were naked. He always gave in his portraits the most power to those features capable of the greatest expression, as the mouth, the eyes, and nose. His colours were few and simple, but he knew well how to arrange them. It has been stated as his opinion, that any one desirous of becoming a good colourist must be well acquainted with three colours, viz. white, red, and black. He also knew, as well as Giorgione, the value of the three primitives, azure, red, and yellow : that the first belongs to shadows, that yellow is the representative (in colour) of light, and that red is their connecting link. This gradation is perceived to the greatest advantage in those fine evening skies, where we see the yellow tints of the horizon about the sun graduated into rose tint, and this again into the azure of the zenith. Leonardi da Vinci reduced the number of colours to two, white and black, the representatives of light and darkness ; and between them made a gradation I ! I 80 COLOURING. gradation of six colours, as white, yellow, green, red, blue, black. Modern artists have, however, reduced this number to five, if we include white and black ; but as these are generally not consi- dered colours, there will only remain the three primitives, blue, red, and yellow. These only are called primitives, as with them all other tints and colours may be made ; and also, without any one of the three, nothing like the colour left out can be produced by the other two, even if we admit white and black. It is also remarkable, that the mixture of any two will make an opposite or perfect contrast to the colour left out ; as with blue and yellow we obtain green, the contrast to red ; with red and blue we have purple, the con- trast to yellow ; and lastly, by mixing red and yellow, orange is created, the contrasting colour to blue : again, if we mix the three together in certain proportions, black is the product ; or mixed in other proportions, a shade tint is gained, suitable to any of the tints or colours which can be COLOURING. 81 be produced : and however the Venetian, Italian, and Flemish artists might theorize, we see in their practice that they understood the above scale in its utmost perfection ; for in splendour, harmony, and judicious contrast, all that colours can do they have apparently achieved. We have given below a table of contrasts, which may be varied ad infinitum by subdivision of tints, and also by difference in degrees of light, or depth of each tint, or its opposing colour. Colours arranged in contrast. Yellow Purple. Yellow Orange Blue Purple. Orange Blue. Red Orange Blue Green. Dark Orange* ......Olive Green. Red Green. Russet Brownf ...Dark Green. Red Purple Yellow Green. Dark Purple Brown. J The * Raw Umber. f Madder Brown. % Vandyke Brown. ■ ; .,' v-j 82 COLOURING. The cool tints are those made with blue and yellow, or blue and red ; the warm colours are those composed of yellow and red. But many tints may have blue in them without being cold, as some of the greys, autumnal greens, &c. The colours of the rainbow also seem to be made from the three primitive colours. The following is the order in which they stand, with Sir I. New- ton's proportions, taking the whole at 360 parts : — Violet 80, Red 45, Orange 27, Yellow 48, Green 60, Blue 60, Indigo 40. There are two modes by which grandeur in colouring may be obtained, which are widely dif- ferent. One consists in reducing the colours nearly to a state of light and shade, according to the practice of the Bolognese school ; the other, by preserving the colours in a forcible and bril- liant condition, as practised by the artists of Flo- rence and Rome. The distinct colours, blue, red, and yellow, of the Roman school, have a striking effect, and from their opposition make an impres- sion ■ COLOURING. 83 sion of magnificence, widely differing- from that which is caused by the monotonous tints of the Bolognian school : yet both are founded in sim- plicity, and it is hard to say which is the most impressive. These critiques on the different modes of grandeur in colouring agree essentially with similar opinions expressed by Sir J. Reynolds, from whom we shall borrow an extract on the dif- ferent modes of attaining harmony. He says : " All the modes of harmony, or of producing that " effect of colours which is required in a picture, -' may be reduced to three; two of which belong " to the grand style, and the other to the orna- " mental. The first may be called the Roman '■' manner, where the colours are of a full and " strong body, such as are found in the ' Trans- " figuration ;' the next is that harmony which is " produced by what the ancients called the cor- " ruption of the colours, by mixing and breaking " them till there is a general union in the whole. " This may be called the Bolognian style; and it is I I IB I! 84 COLOURING. a it 1 1 a a a a (t a tt a a is this hue and effect of colours, which Ludovico Carracci seems to have endeavoured to produce, though he did not carry it to that perfection which we have seen since his time in the small works of the Dutch school, particularly Jan Steen, where art is completely concealed, and the painter, like a great orator, never draws the attention from the subject on himself. The last manner belongs properly to the ornamental style, which we call the Venetian, being first practised at Venice ; but it is perhaps better learned from Rubens. Here the brightest colours pos- sible are admitted, with the two extremes of warm and cold, and those reconciled by being dispersed over the picture, till the whole appears like a bunch of flowers. "As I have given instances from the Dutch school, where the art of breaking colour may be learned, we may recommend here an atten- tion to the works of Watteau for excellence in this florid style of painting. " To ■ COLOURING. 85 " To all these different manners there are some general rules that never must be neglected. First that the same colour which makes the largest mass, be diffused, and appear to revive in different parts of the picture ; for a single colour will make a spot or blot. Even the dis- persed flesh colour, which the faces and hands occasion, requires a principal mass, which is best produced by a naked figure : but where the subject will not allow of this, a drapery ap- proaching to flesh colour will answer the purpose ; as in the ' Transfiguration,' where a woman is clothed in drapery of this colour, which makes a principal to all the heads and hands of the picture: and for the sake of harmony, the colours, however distinguished in their light, should be nearly of the same simple unity in their sha- dows ; and to give the utmost force, strength, and solidity to the work, some part of the picture should be as light, and some as dark as possible. These two extremes are, then, " to : m m • .u ■ I ■ ■ - ■■-' ' 86 COLOURING. 1 " to be harmonized and reconciled to each ** other. " Instances when both of them are used may be " observed in two pictures, which are equally emi- " nent for the force and brilliancy of their effect. " One is in the cabinet of the Duke of Rutland, " and the other is in the Chapel of Rubens at " Antwerp, which serves as his monument. In " both these pictures he has introduced a female *■*■ figure dressed in black satin, the shadows of " which are as dark as pure black, opposed to the " contrary extreme of brightness, can make them. " If to these different manners we add one more, " that in which a silver grey or pearly tint is pre- " dominant, I believe every kind of harmony that " can be produced by colours will be compre- " hended. One of the greatest examples in this " mode is the famous ' Marriage at Canaa,' in St. " George's Church at Venice (now in the Louvre " in Paris), where the sky, which makes a very ** considerable part of the picture, is of the lightest " blue COLOURING. 87 blue colour and the clouds perfectly white : the rest of the picture is in the same key, wrought from this high pitch. We see likewise many pictures of Guido in this tint; and, indeed, those that are so are in his best manner. Female figures, angels, and children were the subjects in which Guido more particularly succeeded ; and to such, the cleanness and neatness of this tint perfectly corresponds, and contributes not a little to that exquisite beauty and delicacy which so much distinguishes his works. To see this style in perfection we must again have recourse to the Dutch school, particularly to the works of the younger Vandervelde and the younger Teneirs, whose pictures are valued by connoisseurs in proportion as they possess this excellence of a silver tint. Which of these different styles ought to be preferred, so as to meet every man's ideas, would be difficult to determine, from the predilection which every man has to the mode which is practised by " the ■ W£. 88 COLOURING. " the school in which he has been educated ; " but if any pre-eminence is to be given, it must " be to that manner which stands in the highest " estimation with mankind in general, and that " is the Venetian style, or rather the manner of " Titian, which simply considered as producing " an effect of colours, will certainly eclipse with " its splendour whatever is brought into competi- " tion with it. But as I hinted before, if female " delicacy and beauty be the principal object " of the painter's aim, the purity and cleanness " of the tints of Guido will correspond better, " and more contribute to produce it, than even " the glowing tint of Titian." The following passage from Mr. Burke's work on the ' Sublime and Beautiful' contains many ex- cellent hints for a delicacy in the use of colours that we do not remember to have seen elsewhere, and which are worthy of much consideration. Speak- ing of beauty in colour he says : " As to the colours " usually found in beautiful bodies, it may be " somewhat i ■ : i , COLOURING. 89 " somewhat difficult to ascertain them, because " in the several parts of nature there is an '■' infinite variety. However, even in this variety, " we may mark out something on which to settle. " First, the colours of beautiful bodies must not " be dusky or muddy, but clean and fair. Se- " condly, they must not be of the strongest kind. " Those which seem most appropriated to beauty " are the milder of every sort ; light greens, soft ■' blues, weak whites, pink reds, and violets. '■' Thirdly, if the colours be strong and vivid, " they are always diversified, and the object is " never of one strong colour : there are almost " always such a number of them (as in variegated " flowers), that the strength and glare of each is " considerably abated. In a fine complexion " there is not only some variety in the colouring, " but the colours, neither the red nor the white, " are strong and glaring : besides, they are mixed " in such a manner, and with such gradations, " that it is impossible to fix the bounds. On the ■ m G same ■ ' I 90 COLOURING. " same principle it is, that the dubious colour in " the necks and tails of peacocks, and about " the heads of drakes, is so very agreeable. In " reality, the beauty both of shape and colouring " are as nearly related, as we can well suppose " it possible for things of such different natures " to be." In concluding this division of our work we must remind the student, that without a judicious and extremely careful use of contrasts, he cannot ob- tain any thing of purity or delicacy in colouring. Astronomers are now aware that the true colour of a star can only be known in the presence of its contrast ; yet many ages had passed before they found out this simple fact, namely, that the class to which a delicate colour belongs can only be known by bringing near it the tint or colour from which it is farthest removed in its nature : a cir- cumstance long known to the best artists, and confirmed by the following experiment, which also proves, at the same time, that there are mul- titudes COLOURING. 91 titudes of colours whose very existence is unknown to us, until their contrasts bring them within the scope of our limited powers of vision. When a fine gradation of colour has been made on paper and carried into pure water, that part which is invisible, having no other apparent tint than clear, unsullied paper, will appear, on placing the opposing or contrasting tint by its side, of a wedge-like shape. The broadest part will be where the tint which is brought into sight is strongest ; the point will be the weakest, and will touch the contrasting colour; and the whole wedge of colour will again vanish on taking away the contrast. If the graduated colour be yellow, the purple, its contrast, should be placed on a separate paper, cut to a perfectly straight edge, and then placed on the graduated colours. m i i mm. i g2 »1 ■■■ i ( 92 ) PICTURESQUE. The most general meaning given to the term " picturesque" is, that wildness which nature exhibits in her neglected state ; as the unrestrain- ed growth of vegetable matter, pools of water, forsaken gravel-pits, ruins of castles and abbeys with all their rich accompaniments, and that ap- propriate variety of forms which is implied by the word " picturesque." But if we take this word in a sense often given to it, as applicable to any subject having sufficient material for an agreeable picture, it might be ne- cessary to include every natural, and very many artificial objects ; for it is remarkable, how the most unpromising scenes may be wrought into good PICTURESQUE. 93 good pictures by proper attention to the chiaro- scuro, especially in the skies. Gerrard Lairesse says, that a good sky in painting is a proof of very great talent : and certainly much depends on it, as a view in the fens or marshes, where the distance is bounded by a straight line and the front a level plain, will be- come picturesque with a judiciously-arranged sky and suitable light and shade upon the land ; or the most formal piece of architecture on a smooth lawn, with other objects equally prim, may be made into an agreeable picture, merely by the aid of a powerful chiaro-scuro, and that infinite variety of natural colours, with their gradations and oppositions, which may at all times be called to our assistance in subjects of difficulty; for where nature has done nothing every thing rests with the artist; even where nature has been most bountiful, he must well consider before he can copy what he sees and form it into a complete picture. Whether i^H_ i • m i , 94 PICTURESQUE. Whether the term " picturesque" can be applied to the highest class of painting has been disputed. Sir J. Reynolds, speaking on this subject, says : " The works of Michael Angelo and Raffaelle " appear to me to have nothing of it, whereas " Rubens and the Venetian School may almost be " said to have nothing else. Perhaps 'picturesque' " is somewhat synonimous to the word * taste/ 11 which we should improperly apply to Homer or " to Milton, but very well to Pope or Prior. I " suspect that the application of these words is to " excellencies which are incompatible with the " grand style." But, in conclusion, he adds, that he is not quite certain that the restrictions he has made to the general application of the word " picturesque" are quite valid. Simplicity and variety constitute the leading principle of the picturesque. To obtain grandeur there should be much simplicity. Where variety abounds it approaches, and generally becomes, what is termed beautiful in landscape. Among I'M PICTURESQUE. 95 Among the best painters of sylvan scenery we must reckon Rysdale, Hobbima, Waterloo, and Swanevelt. The number of objects which they brought into their pictures was limited only to such incidents as the woods afforded. Sometimes a cottage or a mill partially appeared, with a foot- path, a stile, a mill-race, or clear pool of still water underneath the shade of some huge oak, inverting the landscape in its darkened mirror. All these things they duly studied, and gave to them the truth and finish of unadorned nature. It would almost seem that a distinct faculty is required to perceive and comprehend those ideas which are called picturesque ; for the great Dr. Johnson has shewn, that reading, however vast, will do little towards creating that ardent love and admiration for the Creator's grandest works, un- less there be a predisposing cause, which we some- times call " taste" or "genius," or an " additional " faculty." In his journey through the Western Isles of Scotland he says : " The hills are almost " totally ■ l : -1 ■ it- I 96 PICTURESQUE. " totally covered with dark heath, and even that " -appears checked in its growth. What is not heath " is nakedness ; a little diversified now and then " by a stream rushing down the steep. An eye ac- ■ customed to flowery pastures and waving har- " vests, is astonished and repelled by this wide " extent of hopeless sterility. The appearance is ' that of matter incapable of form or usefulness, " dismissed by Nature from her care, disinherited " of her favour, and left in its original elemental " state, or quickened only with one sullen power 1 ' of useless vegetation . " How much of happiness and real enjoyment the good Doctor lost by not possessing that " additional faculty," I leave those to say, who have viewed the splendid and sublime wastes of Scotland under a different feeling. Strictly speaking, it will rarely happen that embellished scenery can be admitted among the truly picturesque. The pencil prefers those scenes where Nature has been undisturbed for ages, where all things are untrimmed. The figures in such ■ PICTURESQUE. 97 such scenes must be peasants in their usual garb ; cattle, such as cattle naturally are, not the high- bred prize ox, nor the elegant race-horse saddled ready for a start with his party-coloured rider.* When buildings occur, they should shew as little of art as possible : therefore the humble cottage, with its straw or heathy thatch over- grown with weeds and mosses, is more picturesque than the finished mansion ; yet the finest speci- mens of architecture when in ruins, and decorated with those adjuncts which nature in a series of years will invariably supply, are to be classed among the most picturesque subjects. In England, embellished scenery possesses a grace which no other country can boast of, and has great claims to admiration, on account of its utility as well as pictorial beauty. The oak, unequalled in other countries, is here a striking object, and the richest ornament of our parks * All animals, however high their condition, become picturesque when i violent action. in : ui i'l I I 98 PICTURESQUE. parks or forests when varied by all its brilliant autumnal tints, whether on the foreground or in the distance, where the forms taken by large masses of oaks are of the noblest kind. In every other species of vegetable life there is a freshness of verdure in the spring, and in the autumn a rich assemblage of colours, which cannot be sur- passed and are rarely seen elsewhere. This, to- gether with the protection which private property has received from our insular position, affording an opportunity of improvements being continued through successive generations, with all the con- sequent additions of experience, has given to English park-scenery much of the picturesque and of grandeur, if not of the sublime. In many parks trees have been allowed to stand until they have assumed all the pictorial qualities that decay generally gives to them. A naturalist (Lawson on ' Orchards '), lamenting in feeling language the decay to which trees are subject, among other things speaks of hollow and rotten trees, with dead A ] ' ;'■ PICTURESQUE 99 dead arms, withered tops, curtailed trunks co- vered with moss, and dying branches, &c. Had he been seeking for picturesque objects his tone would have been different ; for it is to be regret- ted, that utility is not always the test of the picturesque. It does not follow, because a tree is dead or disfigured, that it is picturesque ; but it is so, rather, on account of the scenery with which it is associated. In forests, where we mostly find such objects, we also find all the proper accom- paniments. In village scenery we frequently see the old cottage or farm-house sheltered by their coeval trees, and it is the whole together which makes the picturesque. A dead tree placed on a smooth lawn, in front of a handsome mansion, would not be tolerated by its most enthusiastic admirers, being here too much out of place. Among trees, the ash, the mountain ash, the birch, and abele, are the most elegant. Virgil justly, when speaking of the ash, calls it " fraxi- nus \m. ■ 1^1 11 I 100 PICTURESQUE. nus in sylvis pulcherrima" the most beautiful of the forest ; but as a picturesque tree it will not compare with the oak, particularly when in a state of decay or aged : in health and full vigour gracefulness is its characteristic. The beech, in its most perfect condition, has a grandeur to which the ash and elm never attain. Its extended and leafy head, supported upon a trunk that is finely formed, often variegated with moss and other excrescences, upon a bark which is always of an agreeable hue, together with other strong features, make it well worthy the attention of the draughtsman. The elm partakes much of the oak in appear- ance, and unites some of its grandeur with a lightness of foliage peculiar to itself. Usually growing upright and to a great height, it gives dignity to the landscape around it. The white poplar with large leaves (better known as the abele) is a magnificent ornament either to park or forest. It has the light grace- fulness 1 1 PICTURESQUE. 101 fulness of the ash, united to the wide-spreading and massive dignity of the beech. The trunk most frequently rises to a great height before any branches are thrown out ; the bark is of light ashy grey, generally banded with dark patches in the manner of the birch. The mosses which grow on the abele are always of a rich colour, that contrast well with both foliage and bark, and we have no inhabitant of the forest that surpasses it in height, grandeur, or beauty of form, when it is pleased with the soil on which it stands ; but the softness of the timber will always prevent it from being a favourite in plantations, where the utile is preferred to the duke. We are much surprized how this tree should have escaped the acute notice of Mr. Gilpin in his excellent work on forest scenery, whilst he was describing with such accuracy other poplars of much less beauty. Our limited space will not permit us to notice the whole list of trees and shrubs, which are all worthy I m I : I 102 PICTURESQUE. worthy of attention, each for some peculiarity of character or colour, especially in autumn, when a portion of their leaves have fallen, and the rest become tinged with the hues of the season : as the light tawny of the plane-tree ; the varied yellows, yellow greens, and browns of the oak ; the bright yellow of the hazel ; dull brown of the sycamore ; pale yellow of the maple ; tawny green of the elm ; the pale lemon yellow of the ash ; and in late autumn, the deep and bright reds of the beech and wild cherry-tree, &c. At this season of solemn grandeur we see dis- played the richness and grace of those combina- tions and groupings, both in form and colour, which Nature uses in her forest scenes. Such impress the mind with a sense of awe, of which the Druids were well aware, when they esta- blished their sacrifices and their divinities in the woods. Nor dissimilar are the sensations occasionally felt in passing over extensive mountains and wastes, where PICTURESQUE. 103 where the wanderer finds himself separated from the world, the sole tenant of the wilderness, hold- ing communion with a solitude and silence almost oppressive. But it is in these places that the artist and poet must seek the sublime as well as the most picturesque impressions, not in formal street perspective, with a re-iteration of doors and windows, or amidst the artificial groves of the landscape gardener. Amongst the sources of the picturesque which belong almost exclusively to Great Britain, are those effects produced by the occasional heaviness of our atmosphere, arising from the natural humi- dity of the climate, giving to distances an obscu- rity in some places, whilst at the same moment, in others, there will be a distinctness equalling the clearness produced by an Italian sky. This allows to artists the liberty of enlightening such parts of the distance as are agreeable in character: others, which are not so, may be suffused with vapour, or hidden by a partial shower of rain, or rendered ■ti i • I I I i ■ ; 104 PICTURESQUE. rendered gloomy by the shadows of clouds. That haziness, so frequent in our islands, which, with- out destroying, throws a thin veil over the whole of harmonizing power, gives to the picture a repose, frequently more grateful to the eye than is effected by a brilliant atmosphere, where the sharp outlines and distinct colours often produce a painful species of detail throughout the land- scape. The months of September, October, and No- vember, shew the most picturesque effects. In the mornings and evening we have then more of what the artist calls air-tint. We see masses of shadow cast into large breadths by the lowness of the sun, creating a rich and quiet tone of repose wherever they fall. Their richness is occasioned by the faint marking of colours and forms, when seen through the deep misty greys of an autumnal morn or eve ; yet so harmoniously blended, as to leave unbroken and undisturbed the necessary repose of the picture. The lights are more bril- liant mHR PICTURESQUE. 105 liant by this contrast, and mark with the greater precision the character of every object. The colours of vegetation, in these months, partake more of light than the deep monotonous greens of early summer, when the woods and fields wear all one livery, and of a colour, although agreeable, not gay. In the autumn the colours are of a more varied and cheerful nature. Even the colours of buildings seem to have changed with the season ; and we now find in views of towns or villages, when seen not too far off, all the modifi- cations of red, brown, orange, buff, greys, white, &c, contrasted by an universal pearly shade-tint, which throws a whole city into differently-shaped masses of chiaro-scuro, most frequently so con- veniently disposed, that the eye sees with remark- able precision, objects which, under a more ele- vated sun, become in a manner indistinct, from their multitude, and the distracting glare of light which in one universal stream descends on the whole scene. h We J i ! !i I 106 PICTURESQUE. We find in mountain scenery a great diversity of outline, but not all equally good. When seen against the sky, they should have nothing either formal or fantastic, but be continued in irregularly undulating lines, which are always beautiful, and occasionally broken by abrupt or precipitous de- scents. Amongst the finest forms the pyramidal takes the lead, being that which unites in itself the first principles of grandeur, strength, and magnitude. In painting, these lines should not be too distinctly marked, but partake of that filmy texture which belongs to distant objects. The pyramidal form may also be reversed and made very picturesque ; as, for example, the straight line of a bridge crossing the inclined lines of a deep ravine which meet towards the bottom of a picture ; but this can only be used with effect near the foreground or in the middle distance. Nothing can be more beautifully picturesque than the light, floating colours of the mountains. They are continually changing, sometimes from a pale I! mmammmmmmmmamammmmm PICTURESQUE. 107 pale sunny yellow to the hue of the peach bloom, and this converted most magically into the violet and azure of the mountain shades ; the whole again reconverted with variegated splendour into lights, shadows, and colours equally illusive, by the prismatic effect of some thin vapour arising from the earth. The shadows of clouds passing- over the sides of mountains add also greatly to their grandeur, by producing that breadth and unity of shade-tint so essential to their character. The features in a foreground, to be picturesque, should be strongly marked. What is picturesque in a distance is not so on a foreground, where the colours and forms are well made out. Objects on the foreground, to be picturesque, should be so disposed, that their lights, shadows, colours, &c. may contrast agreeably those of the distances. Where a large mass of shade is wanted, trees will supply it ; if warm browns or greys, the trunks of trees or rocks may be made subservient ; or if the grey or azure of the distant tints are to h 2 be I; I I .'; 108 PICTURESQUE. be opposed, the autumnal colours of foliage may be used, of which there is abundant choice. In broken earth a great variety of ochres and browns are to be found, and for red, black, white, brown, and grey, cattle will furnish all that can be required ; or for the more positive colours, as scarlet, yellow, and blue, figures clothed in these tints, and in appropriate positions and action, can be introduced to fill up the arrangement of the picture. The sea with its shores is an inexhaustible study, presenting in itself an endless choice and variety of effects. In certain states of the atmosphere there is a beautiful mingling and interchanging of colours on the surface of the ocean, breaking and making agreeable, sometimes, even the monotony of a calm. With an increase of wind, the same scene which before was merely pleasing becomes highly interesting. The waves are crested with foam, vessels take every possible attitude, and receive all . PICTURESQUE. 109 all the varieties of light as the shades occasioned by the clouds pass away. The distant and dark blue sea assumes as it approaches an olive green, sometimes a drab colour or other hues of gayer tint, with every imaginary shape and size of waves rolling in ceaseless change, making the sea alone, even without the accompaniment of sands or cliffs, a highly picturesque subject. A storm at sea adds sublimity to the picturesque. Those enormous collections of clouds, the harbingers of thunder, the subdued pale grey lights which edge the under-clouds, the lurid tints, as of flame seen through a black veil, the scattered and torn fragments in the zenith hastening to a junction with the larger masses, and the darkened colours of the sea in its agitation mingling with the sky, contain all the elements of the sublime. Here even a ship of war of the largest class seen moving- through the flying foam, with its light sails spread against the deepening gloom, its tall spars bending before the tempest, is grandly picturesque ; when alone, - ^ i 1 r ' 1 ) 110 PICTURESQUE. alone, and at rest in a quiet harbour, it has not the least claim to the term. Marine views may have their interest greatly increased by rocks, sands, and their characteristic figures ; boats on shore, birds which frequent the ocean, sea-weed, pieces of wreck, nets, baskets, fishermen's huts, and all their usual accompani- ments. ( Ml ) BEAUTY, GRACE, AND 139H ! EXPRESSION. The opinions of all civilized nations have tended to establish certain forms and colours as beautiful, and these most generally are founded on the perfection of the object to which the term is applied. Some will not admit the existence of abstract beauty. Amongst them we find Voltaire, who very unfairly omits every thing that might go against his opinion. He states the whole matter as entirely relative ; that things esteemed beauti- ful in Paris might not be so esteemed in London, and that a toad will consider the perfection of beauty _ M 112 BEAUTY, GRACE, beauty as resting among toads, &c. He also descends to sarcasm; but sarcasm is not argu- ment. The Greeks, when establishing their ideas of beauty in the human figure, appear to have taken for their guide a very simple rule as a first prin- ciple, and refined on it until they were enabled to produce those perfections of form and expres- sion, which have been allowed through successive ages as standards of beauty, of grace, and subli- mity. They saw that, in the human countenance, a depressed forehead, a flat nose, and projecting mouth, is too nearly allied to the brute formation, and that a gradation might be traced from the lowest animals, through the dog, monkey, ouran- outang, negro, and Tartar, up to the European, or, as termed by physiologists, the Caucasian variety, in the great family of mankind. They found in the Caucasian variety, that the head above the eyes is large, and well developed, par- ticularly towards the front and in the forehead, and AND EXPRESSION. 113 and that the face comparatively is small, and falls perpendicularly from the cranium, the face oval, nose moderately prominent, the mouth small, the chin well rounded, &c. To these forms they found added an intellectual energy and moral perception, capable of such extensive cultivation and refinement, as to warrant them in supposing that, as the facial line is elevated, in the same proportion intelligence increases. Following this rule, they have given to those heads which they wished to possess the greatest dignity, a coun- tenance nearly perpendicular; and in their statues of the gods they have carried this rule so far as to make the forehead project beyond the face, thus attaining the farthest possible remove from the formation of the lower animals. It is this refinement which is termed ideal beauty, and which we can only well understand by examining their statues, where we shall find that perfections which never exist altogether in any one individual are collected into a perfect whole, ? m 1 J I I, 114 BEAUTY, GRACE, whole, making an aggregation of beauties which are constantly to be found in nature, but never altogether in the most favoured individual. From this it appears that the Greeks did not go upon vague notions; they seem to have worked upon a great leading principle, and by doing so have gained the suffrages of the whole civilized world. And we find that beauty, whether ab- stract or relative, is judged by that created being which possesses the greatest reasoning power, to consist in those forms capable of the highest state of intellect, and also best fitted to perform all the duties of its position in the world, by being- composed of those medial forms which are equally removed from redundancy or attenuation. Thus we might be justified in asserting the existence of abstract beauty. Or it may be asked, whether the opinion of the being best fitted to reason and judge shall have weight, or whether by subtilizing we are to grant an equal right to those beings which have no reason, des- cending AND EXPRESSION. 115 cending in this extraordinary spirit of liberality through the first dawnings of animal or vegetable life into lifeless matter, as no point can be assign- ed where we are to stop, until we might conclude with certain philosophers, that the qualities of all material things are ideal, and in this manner arrive at the monstrous absurdity, that it is quite indiffe- rent whether an object be loathsome or lovely. It is certain that, in all the species of created beings, there are particular states of perfection which may be called beautiful for want of a better term. But it is also certain, that some beings are more perfect than others, and that man surpasses them all ; therefore, in the human figure are we to look for those lines and forms which we call beautiful, a word for which the Greeks, having no equivalent, used others, com- prehending many more excellencies than our own. As Sir J. Reynolds observes : "It is from rei- " terated experience, and a close comparison of " the objects in nature, that an artist becomes " possessed (' i i . } , 116 BEAUTY, GRACE, ; 122 BEAUTY, GRACE, tt tt tt (( a tt tt change under the eye by a deviation continually carrying on, but for whose beginning or end you will find it difficult to ascertain a point. The view of a beautiful bird will illustrate this ob- servation. * * * I have before me the idea of a dove, it agrees very well with most of the conditions of beauty. It is smooth, and its parts are (to use that expression) melted into one another : you are presented with no sudden protuberance through the whole, and yet the whole is continually changing * * * I can strengthen my theory in this point, by the opinion of the very ingenious Mr. Hogarth, whose idea of the line of beauty (the serpentine) I take in general to be extremely just ; but the idea of variation, without attending so accurately to the manner of the variation, has led him to consider angular figures as beautiful. These figures, it is true, vary greatly, yet they vary in a sudden and broken manner ; and I do not find any natural object which is angular, and at " the i' AND EXPRESSION. 123 " the same time beautiful. Indeed, few natural " objects are entirely angular." The ancients (we speak of the times of Apelles) divided painting into five principal parts ; inven- tion, symmetry, colour (including chiaro-scuro), expression, and disposition : yet they appear to have thought a sixth necessary, or rather essential to the completion of the whole, for however cor- rectly the five first were observed, without grace, which we have termed the sixth, they deemed the whole of any work of art imperfect. This grace was to be obtained by a becoming propriety in every separate point, and again, by a concor- dance or mutual agreement of all the five. Grace seems to be a part of beauty, for it is cer- tainly the highest state of perfection to which whatever is beautiful can arrive. It makes beauty more lovely by a delicacy of expression in action, form, and mind. It is a quality readily perceived but difficult of explanation, without the presence of those works which contain the only language i 2 by fj « ': ^ , 124 BEAUTY, GRACE, by which we can understand this indescribable perfection, as a careful contemplation of the Medi- cean Venus, the Apollo Belvidere, the Antinous, and others will best shew. In these we shall find lines possessing more or less of the ellipsis in such endless varying forms, from every point of view, that the geometrician and writer are equally baffled in attempting a description of them. Grace requires simplicity ; constraint and affec- tation destroy it. Almost all the actions of children were thought by Sir J. Reynolds to possess this quality, and that gracefulness left them when the lessons of the dancing-master commenced. In support of this opinion he might have quoted Cicero, who in his first book De Oratore, adds, " Roscius often says in my hearing, that a " graceful propriety is the principal point of art, " and this is the only thing which cannot be pro- " duced by art." Grace may be considered as the harmonious accordance of the action with the agent ; therefore that ■ se >-■:--.'-:• v AND EXPRESSION. 125 that grace which is becoming in the female form would be unsuitable to the male : in man it must have something more of dignity. This nice dis- tinction was so well understood by Raffaelle, that he may be said to have possessed the whole quality in its fullest extent ; and the following passage taken from Mr. Roscoe's excellent translation of the history of painting in Italy by the Abate Luigi Lanzi, gives us a great idea of the power that Raf- faelle had attained in this essential and fascinating- department of the art. " Another quality which " Raffaelle possessed in an eminent degree was ?.' grace, a quality which may be said to confer an " additional charm on beauty itself. Something " might, perhaps, be advantageously added to the " forms of his children and other delicate figures " which he represented, but nothing can add to " their gracefulness ; for if it were attempted to " be carried further, it would degenerate into " affectation, as we find in Parmegiano. His Ma- " donnas enchant us, as Mengs observes, not " because >' : 1 H J 1 I ! I 126 BEAUTY, GRACE, I I I 1 <£- DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 165 pie of the latter we have given two subjects from Claude Lorraine, at the top and lower end of the 1st plate. In the centre, the subject, which is taken from Rembrandt, is composed of one mass of dark, and another of light; in the middle of the picture, where the darkest point of the gable end of the cottage is brought against the light of the sky, so as to bring the whole of this end of the building- forward, the farther end of the roof being light and massing with the lights of the sky, retires, and thus completes the perspective of light, sha- dow, and colour, and unites the lights of the sky with the ground, preserving a breadth and unity in both. The unity of the shadows is well ar- ranged, by spreading it from the building through the shade it casts on the ground into the brook, where they are naturally broken by the rippling of the water, and graduated into the fore- ground lights. The small figure in dark shade is placed to break the continuous line of shadow, * and r i .1 ! ■ , ! I 1G6 DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. and also to make the distance retire by oppo- sition. In plate 2, the upper subject is from Vander- velde. In this the same care is shewn in order to obtain a grand effect by the simplest means, a large mass of light graduating through every degree of demi-tints into a positive mass of darkness on the rock and sea at the front of the picture. It may be here observed, that the darkest shadows should never be continued to the bottom of the picture, but must be so much enlightened as to convey to the mind some idea of returning light. The lower subject on the same plate, 'Christ quelling the Tempest,' is from a picture by Vlieger, an excellent painter of marine subjects, from whom the younger Vandervelde derived his in- structions. In this the effect is obtained by a different process. The lights, although kept near together, are broken by sharp contrasts : thus the dark figures in the boat contrast against the waves at the stern ; the bright light under the Plate IL 4/tO''.'•' ' MIXED TINTS. Indian Red and Indigo. Light Red and Cobalt. Verjnilion and Cobalt. Lake, Cobalt, and Yellow Ochre. Lake, Indigo, and Yellow Ochre. I ' ipbbpppbp ■BBHHHS* MIXED TINTS. Gamboge, Lake,, and Indigo. Raw Sienna, Madder Lake, and Cobalt. Light Red and Indigo. Vandyke Brown, Lake^ and Indigo. Burnt Sienna, Lake, and Indigo. MIXED TINTS. Gamboge, Light Red, and Indigo. Gamboge, Burnt Sienna, and Indigo. Gamboge, Burnt Sienna, and Indigo. Vandyke Brown, Gamboge, and Indigo. Italian Pink and Antwerp Blue. MIXED TINTS. Italian Pink and Lamp Black. Yellow Ochre and Indigo. Burnt Sienna and Indigo. Brown Pink and Indigo. Raw Umber and Indigo. MIXED TINTS. 6 Yellow Ochre and Lake. Yellow Ochre and Light Red. Yellow Ochre and Vandyke Brown. Vandyke Brown and Lake. Burnt Sienna and Lake. mm -.-■■■ • // I ' I? "It 37 G TY RESEA RCH INSTITUTE 3 3125 01063 3564 ■>